How To Work Out Whether A Business Can Afford To Hire You

How To Work Out Whether A Business Can Afford To Hire You

Copyright ® 2003 by Angela Booth

*** This article originally appeared in our copywriters paid-
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Can a business afford to hire you? This is a big question for
beginning copywriters. It's vital that you get an answer to this
question. If you don't, you can spend money and time working with
someone who's not in a position to be able to afford your rates.

Please don't think that I'm being elitist here. I'm not. And you
can certainly work for non-profit organizations pro bono, either
to gain experience, or to help out a good cause. However, it's
important to remember the "budget" word during your FIRST contact
with a prospective client.

The money is important to you, and to the client. You set your
own rates. However, the client has a budget that he has to keep
in mind too.


=>A beginning copywriter horror story

HereÆs a cautionary tale. A new copywriter we'll call Bob was
approached by Mr X, a friend of a friend. Mr X was starting a new
business and needed a brochure. This ten-page four-color
extravaganza needed to be produced within two days. Mr X's budget
was $150.

OK, stop laughing, please. If you think that's funny, it gets
even funnier.

The $150 was Mr X's entire budget. For the copywriting, and for
the graphics and design.

Mr X wanted the brochure as a computer file he could print out
himself. (I told you it got funnier.)

Bob's eyes lit up. At last! Someone was hiring him to write! He
promised Mr X the brochure within two days --- the deadline was
strict, Mr X had a meeting with a prospective client for his new
business at 9am on the morning of the third day.

I'll spare you the details of what happened next. Those two days
were days that Bob wonÆt forget in a hurry.

What did Bob do wrong? Everything. The biggest mistake he made
was agreeing to work for a non-existent budget. Bob didnÆt need
to be a whiz at figures to work out that at five hours per page
of a ten-page brochure, he'd need 50 hours just to complete the
copy work. At $60 an hour, his fee for the 50 hours would be
$3000. Of course, he'd also need to sub-contract out the graphics
and design, so the budget would also need to include the fees for
the graphics design agency. None of which would come together
within two days. Two weeks, maybe, and you'd still be pushing it.


Mr X couldn't afford a copywriter. He was wasting Bob's time.


=> The all-important budget

Your phone rings. It's Edward Jones, sales manager for Smith &
Green Industries. He tells you S & G are revamping their image.
They need you to write a new company overview.

Not a problem. "What's the budget?" You ask.

You can ask Ed Jones this question immediately, because you've
worked with him before, and he expects you to get those details
out of the way.

He tells you there's no budget yet. The company overview will be
a glossy brochure for shareholders, maybe eight pages, he's not
sure. He'll courier the past several years' worth of company
reports over to you, plus their old company overview. Can you
take a look, and estimate how long the copy will take? They'll be
using their usual graphics design agency, so you only need to
handle the copy.

You promise to take a look at the material, and will send him a
quote next week.

It's easy to get the budget out of the way up-front with people
you've worked with before. They expect you to get onto this
immediately.

However, it's even more important to get it out of the way with
people you havenÆt worked with before.

Your first step is always to give your client a quote, and you do
this by calculating your rates for the project. Only after you
and the client have haggled over the quote, and you've got your
client's signature on a purchase order or on an agreement, do you
start work. For a long project --- longer than three or four
hours --- you should also get a retainer as a deposit before you
start.


=> How to calculate your rates for a project

You calculate your rates by working out how long a project will
take, and then multiplying that by your hourly rate.

If you're not sure how long a project will take, guess. However,
donÆt do this when you have the client on the phone. Always get
the full details of the project, and tell the client you'll send
him a quote when you've worked it out.

Note: you WILL make mistakes. You'll miscalculate, and a project
which should have taken you five hours will take you ten. This is
the way it goes. You learn by making mistakes, so it's no big
deal. You'll know better next time.


=> Ask about the budget right away

As soon as someone asks you to write some copy for them, ask them
what their budget is for the project. If they waffle, simply say:
"That's fine. If you'll give me the details, I'll work out a
quote. I'll fax it to you tomorrow."

If they ask you to estimate say: "Without the complete brief, I
canÆt tell you. However, my hourly rate is $X."

Asking about their budget may make you uncomfortable the first
couple of times you do it. You'll become more comfortable with
the process over time.

Remember, the only way you can be sure that a business can afford
to hire you is to ask. So please, donÆt create your own
copywriting horror story --- ask.

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